The invention relates to a method and apparatus for the processing of hop vines, and more particularly to an automated processor that cuts bulk-harvested hop vines into manageable segments with a minimum of handling operations.
Rising farm labor costs and a decrease in available workers willing to perform traditionally low paying tasks has forced many growers to turn to automation. Though often a significant capital investment, what were once labor intensive farming operations can sometime be supplemented or replaced by an automated process. In the long term, these automations have the potential to increase profits and make domestic farming operations competitive with foreign farms, where labor is inexpensive and plentiful.
In the growing of hops, automation is difficult due to the nature of the hop vines. These vines are grown in trellised xe2x80x9cyardsxe2x80x9d and harvested by cutting the vine away from the high wires of the trellis. The cut vines are then brought into a processing facility and individually placed upon hooks. The vines are stripped of cones and the cones are dried. This conventional hop harvesting process requires laborers to both harvest the individual vines and place the vines on the hooks for further processing. A method and apparatus are needed to reduce the labor required to harvest and process hops.